Definition

1. Noun:
   • Rice nursery; rice seedling bed: A specifically prepared, often smaller, field or plot of land where rice seeds are sown and cultivated until they grow into young seedlings (called "mạ"). These seedlings are later uprooted and transplanted into the main, larger flooded field (called "ruộng cấy" or "ruộng lúa").

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Người nông dân đang chăm sóc ruộng mạ. (The farmer is tending to the rice nursery.)
  • Sau hai tuần, mạ từ ruộng mạ đã đủ cứng cáp để cấy. (After two weeks, the seedlings from the rice seedling bed were strong enough for transplanting.)
  • Họ dành một phần đất nhỏ làm ruộng mạ. (They set aside a small piece of land to make a rice nursery.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "ruộng mạ" specifically refers to the field for the initial growth stage. The process involves first growing the seeds densely in the "ruộng mạ" before transplanting them to the main field, which is a common practice in wet-rice cultivation.

Variants and Related Words

• Mạ (n): The young rice seedlings themselves, grown in the "ruộng mạ".
  • Bó mạ được vận chuyển ra đồng. (The bundles of rice seedlings are transported to the field.)
• Ruộng cấy / Ruộng lúa (n): The main paddy field where the seedlings ("mạ") are transplanted to grow until harvest.
  • Cấy mạ xuống ruộng lúa. (Transplant the seedlings into the paddy field.)

Synonyms

• Rice nursery bed
• Seedling plot (for rice)

Related Concepts

• Gieo mạ / Gieo sạ (v): To sow rice seeds. "Gieo mạ" often implies sowing in a nursery ("ruộng mạ"), while "gieo sạ" means sowing directly into the main field.
  • Công việc đầu tiên là gieo mạ vào ruộng mạ. (The first task is to sow the seeds in the rice nursery.)

1. Rice-seeding field